Today is the start of All Candy Expo, the national exhibition of candy & snacks sponsored by the National Confectioners Association. Over three days over 450 exhibitors will sample their wares on the show floor while tens of thousands of candy store owners, chain store buyers, wholesalers & distributors will will walk the aisles. It’s an awesome and intimidating place to be, it makes me a bit giddy and also overwhelmed (there’s so much!). Once again my dayjob prevents me from attending so I’ll sit here and remotely broadcast items of interest.

Here are some new product announcements:

Name: Wee Glee
Brand: Gleey Gum (Verve, Inc.)
Description: In a brightly packaged box full of miniature pieces of mixed flavors of chewing gum, Wee Glee provides a fun-filled chewing experience sure to brighten the moods and tickle the taste buds of children and adults alike. Like the rest of the Glee line, Wee Glee is all-natural, vegetarian, additive-free, lactose-free, dairy-free, wheat-free, gluten-free, casein-free, egg-free, yeast-free, and nut-free with no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives.
Notes: I tried this at ExpoWest a few months ago. The little pieces are a bit thicker than Chiklets. I find their gum sticks to my fillings, but the flavor is much clearer than a lot of other gums (but dissipates quickly).

Name: Sour Patch Chillerz
Brand: Cadbury-Adams
Description: Leaving you with a long-lasting shock that’s Sour then Sweet (r), Sour Patch Chillerz(tm) is a soft and chewy Sour Patch candy creation that leaves a surge of cool at the end! Sour Patch Chillerz(tm) come in a movie-theater size bag with an assortment of delicious flavors including Berry Punch Chiller(tm), Frozen Lemonade(tm), Strawberry Shiver(tm) and Frosty Grape(tm). Each bite-size candy screams with out-of-this-world tartness.
Notes: There have been a few candies lately that have mixed this “cool feeling” of menthol and fruity flavors. Sometimes it works ... sometimes it doesn’t. I have a package and have to admit, they do look pretty cute.

Name: Black Forest Juicy Oozers
Brand: Ferrara Pan
Description: Get chomping on Cherry Gummy Sharks, the shark-a-licious wild cherry chews burst in your mouth with juicy centers and 10 percent DV Vitamin C. Or pucker up and try Sour Gummy Fun Fish, a pack of squishy, gushy sour flavored gummies that come in a variety of four different sea creature shapes and four fantastic juicy center flavors: Twisted Triple Berry, Screamin’ Strawberry Kiwi, Tangy Tangerine and Wacky Watermelon.
Description: Yes, if you make a gummi product in 2009 you must make a variation with a gooey center if you don’t already. It’s a law. Look it up.

Name: Goetze Gourmet Caramel Creams Licorice
Brand: Goetze’s
Description: These marry the rich flavor of black licorice with our classic rich and creamy center. Naturally flavored with Real Licorice Extract, each serving of this wholesome confection is also fortified with 30% RDA of calcium and 11% RDA of fiber. These 9oz stand up bags are available in 12ct cases with a Suggested Retail Price of $2.99 per bag.
Notes: I was reading somewhere that Goetze used to make Licorice Caramel Creams, so I’m very excited at their return. I’m not sure what this whole “gourmet” part is, but I’m on board no matter what.

Name: Sour Punch Bits
Brand: American Licorice
Description: Packing a wallop, chewy Sour Punch Bits(r) is the perfect pairing of mouth-watering strawberry and watermelon fruit flavors rolled up into one bite-size soft candy chew. Scrumptious in Strawberry-Watermelon, the sweet-yet-sour Sour Punch Bits(r) will surprise your mouth!
Notes: I love little morsels as an option for candies that are usually in ropes or bars. The curious part about these is that they’re actually paired in each piece. I’m not sure I want them together in every bite, but I’ll give them a try (I have a box).

Name: Caramel Apple Pops
Brand: Tootsie
Description: If you’re a sucker for lollipops, try an Apple Orchard Caramel Apple Pop(tm), the delicious apple candy pop with smooth caramel coating. Enjoy the ripe apple flavor and creamy caramel taste with every lick, now available in Golden Delicious and green apple caramel apple flavors.
Notes: For several years now Tootsie has brought out the Caramel Apple Pop as a seasonal item (maybe it’s available all year round). Now they have a few new variations. I have some samples and will try to post about them late this summer.

Name: Werther’s Original Creamy Caramel Filled
Brand:
Description: Featuring a smooth caramel shell, with a creamy caramel filling! Now available in peg and laydown packs. 
Notes: These remind me a bit of Pearson’s Caramel Parfait Nips. But I don’t know if the caramel is hard or soft. It’ll be interesting to try.

Name: Ghirardelli Luxe Milk Chocolate
Brand: Ghirardelli Chocolate
Description: New Ghirardelli LUXE MILK chocolate bars and bags deliver the ultimate milk chocolate experience with rich and creamy Ghirardelli milk chocolate using simply delicious, all natural ingredients. As with all of our premium chocolate products, we hand select the world’s finest cocoa beans to create our proprietary bean blend and roast them to perfection. Then we slow-blend in the purest ingredients such as real cocoa butter and natural vanilla, to achieve our distinctively intense chocolate. Special packaging for Valentine’s Day.
Notes: The Luxe Milk line has been out since the beginning of the year. I was quite enamored of the crisped rice bar. I’ve tried the other varieties and found Ghirardelli’s milk chocolate flavor quite odd. More on that soon.

Name: Waffaretto
Brand: Landrin, USA
Description: Landrin Waferatto Perfections are a collection of gourmet confections available in five exciting flavors; all capturing the fine blend of a crisp wafer shell, smooth filling and crunchy nut, creating an unforgettable triple taste sensation. Landrin - Experience the delicate taste of Landrin Classic Waferatto, a combination of white chocolate and shredded coconut with a whole California almond and silky cream center surrounded by a crisp wafer. Or discover Landrin Waferatto Gold with its exquisite chocolaty hazelnut filling, embraced in delicate cream, wafer and the finest crushed hazelnuts.
Notes: These folks won’t leave me alone and seem to have captured all my email addresses from various trade shows I’ve attended. Basically they’re like Ferrero Rocher. I’ve picked up samples before several times but have yet to actually eat one. Soon, soon I’ll try them.

All photos courtesy of the manufacturers unless otherwise watermarked

Related Candies

1. Candy Tease: April 2009
2. Candy Tease: Spring 2009
3. Candy Tease: February 2009
4. Candy Tease: Autumn 2008
5. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #5
6. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #4

Name: Le Whif
Brand: LaboGroup
Description: Le Whif is a new way of eating chocolate by breathing. The experience is very surprising. You inhale as if you are breathing something into your lungs and, by virtue of the design of Le Whif, chocolate coats your mouth. Several products will be launched that broaden the idea of “whiffing” over the course of the coming year. Le Whif was invented by Harvard Professor David Edwards at Le Laboratoire, an innovation center in Paris. 
Notes: I know that this isn’t news to you, dear readers, but breathing and eating are two different processes and really aren’t interchangeable. Taking air into the stomach leads to gas and taking food into the airways leads to death ... see, neither is a good result. This is not candy. I will write no more of this on Candy Blog. 

Name: Trolli Gummi Hearts
Brand: Trolli (Farley’s & Sathers)
Description: Delicious Trolli(r) flavors in gummi hearts highlighting text messages. This product also offers unique packaging for the young consumer.
Notes: I’ve always enjoyed the idea of different colored candies even if they’re not different flavors (M&Ms) and think that conversation hearts are a cute combination of interactivity and sweets. I love that more companies are putting messages onto little pieces of candy so that you can play with it before you eat it. Gummi hearts are a natural extension of this. My only hesitation is that Trolli gummis are usually pretty soft ... not really something I want to hand to someone. Maybe they’re individually wrapped.

Name: Cranberry Raisinets
Brand: Nestle
Description: Milk Chocolate & Dried Cranberries - a natural source of fruit antioxidants only 100 calories
Notes: I’ve had chocolate covered dried cranberries before and find it difficult to tell them apart from chocolate covered raisins. I would hope that they’d use unsweetened cranberries, but knowing Nestle, I will bet dollars to Dots that they’ll be extra sugary. I’m also a bit dubious of the portion size if it’s only 100 calories ... sounds like less than an ounce of candy in the bag.

Name: Baby Ruth Crisp
Brand: Nestle
Description: Baked wafers, Caramel, Peanuts & Creme
Notes: This looks like the Baby Ruth version of the Butterfinger Crisp bar ... which I think was already discontinued. If they used real chocolate, I think they’d have something.

Images courtesy of the respective candy companies

Related Candies

1. Candy Tease: Spring 2009
2. Candy Tease: February 2009
3. Candy Tease: Autumn 2008
4. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #5
5. Candy Tease: Edition Five

I’d say that I don’t review about half of the candy that I acquire. Some is for personal consumption or gifts, but a good proportion I just never get around to. Most of that you’ll never even see. These shown below are ones I at least took photos of, yet I still couldn’t muster a review.

Do if you’ve had any of these, please feel free to chime in with your thoughts so that at least other folks can get some feedback on them.

Brix Chocolate - Special milk & dark chocolate blends made just for eating with wine. It comes in huge blocks that seem like they’d be difficult and messy. I picked up these tasting squares at the Fancy Food Show. I photographed them, I ate them. I read some other reviews.

These are Valerie Confections liquid caramel eggs in a dark chocolate shell with a dusting of gold flakes. They were divine and I ate a half a dozen of them in a matter of three days. (Along with a fabulous box of my favorite Lemon & Hazelnut Nougat.)

I bought this in Pennsylvania last year at the grocery store near my sister’s house. Eurocrem Blok - it sounds like it could be the name of any number of products. A brand of butter. A solid deodorant stick. Maybe a fine chocolate.

I bought it because of the name and the package design, not because I thought it’d be good. Even though the package clearly says it’s good until October 2009, it was bloomed. Could have been my fault, could have been something that happened in my luggage. Could have been the store. But it wouldn’t be fair to review it and I’m not really into eating chalky chocolate.

Brandini Toffee has been suggested for review several times by readers. I thought that the Fancy Food Show was a perfect opportunity to do that. They gave me these itty-bitty samples (mostly because I visited them on the last day, not because they were stingy or anything ... not that any candy company is obliged to give me free samples just to get reviewed, because that’s also not true).

Not really the way to review toffee. One of these days I’ll find it in stores and buy a real-sized portion, not these sugar-cube-sized stuff made for Barbie dolls.

I diligently picked out these samples of the missing flavors in my set of Lake Champlain truffle eggs when at the Fancy Food Show.

These are the Java Truffle Eggs.

Then I ate them. They were good. I did actually intend on getting more of them, since they were already photographed at the Whole Foods by my office, but sometimes I get lazy.

These are little plain dark chocolate tasting pieces of Frey Swiss Delice Dark Chocolate in 72% and 55% cacao.

I picked them up because I thought it’d be interesting to taste the chocolate base for the bars that seem to be so popular at Target and come in a bajillion flavor combinations except just plain chocolate.

I never got around to it and then I lost these eensy little pieces. (Seriously, you think they’re small, but they’re actually smaller than that.)

I thought this was a fabulous little bite of caramel.

Goat’s milk is a little gamier, a little tangy and sometimes a little musty tasting compared to cow’s milk. These Beurre et Lait de chevre were no exception. It was like eating a bit of cream cheese with my caramel.

At the point where I ate them after the Fancy Food Show, I’d completely forgotten where I got them from. Then I found the second one a few weeks ago and I have to say that I think they’re product best eaten fresh.

So there you have it, if not full reviews, at least lots of eye candy.

Related Candies

1. Kohler Chocolates Garden Ganache & Toffee Mountains
2. Askinosie White Chocolate (Plain, Nibble & Pistachio)
3. Lake Champlain & See’s Bunny Battle
4. Frey Supreme: White, Lemon & Lime and Citron & Poivre
5. Ethel Holiday Assortment
6. Lake Champlain Hazelnut Eggs

While Candy Season is winding down with Easter less than two weeks from now, All Candy Expo is gearing up ... which means plenty of new product announcements.

Name: Dark Velvet - Champagne and Cognac
Brand: Anthon Berg
Description: Dark Velvet is two beautiful gift boxes with delicious truffles. Each one of them is filled with a smooth filling dominated by either Piper-Heidsieck Champagne or R?my Martin Cognac. A taste experience as dark as chocolate and with fillings as smooth as velvet.
Notes:  I’m rather fond of the Anthon Berg liquor bottles, mostly because they make me feel like a giant alcoholic. The cognac sounds the most appealing, as I think that the earthy, leather & tobacco flavors of cognac go well with dark chocolate.

Name: Yogurt Coated Raspberry Soft Eating Liquorice
Brand:Darrell Lea
Description: Darrell Lea have coated their delicious Raspberry Soft Eating Liquorice with creamy yogurt. Containing only Natural Flavor and using colors derived from natural sources, it is preservative free to compliment Darrell Lea’s range of “Better for you” Australian Liquorice.
Notes: Darrell Lea is really expanding in the US. They’re also going to bring out a version of Allsorts in US stores as well. I have zero interest in yogurt covered red licorice though I imagine there are plenty of folks who are going to be interested.

Name: DOVE Silky Smooth Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter
Brand: Dove (Mars)
Description: It’s the combination we’ve all been waiting for - soft and creamy peanut butter surrounded by silky smooth DOVE Chocolate. It’s the most indulgent way to experience the premium taste of 100% real, authentic milk chocolate and creamy peanut butter. Available in retail stores nationwide in May 2009.
Notes: It’s about time!

Name: Kazoozles
Brand: Wonka (Nestle)
Description: Kazoozles Cherry Punch: Two Cherry Ropes with Punch Filling. Kazoozles Pink Lemonade: Two Lemon Ropes with Cherry Filling. June 8, 2009 release.
Notes: Look familiar? These came out back on 2005/06 and were called SweeTarts Rope. I don’t know why both flavor versions have to have cherry in them. Why couldn’t the lemon one be lemon and raspberry?

Name: Gummy Puckerooms
Brand: Wonka (Nestle)
Description: Sour Sanded Gummies in different mushroom shapes and four yummy flavors (cherry, grape, lemon/orange, and grape/cherry). June 8, 2009 release.
Notes: These feel like a return to the Wonka whimsy. It seems like moving into gummis is a natural extension for the Wonka line as well. I find the flavor selection a little odd ... but I guess Wonka must think that everyone loves cherry.

Name: Gummy Sluggles
Brand: Wonka (Nestle)
Description: Classic, sweet gummies in three fun slug-like shapes, and four yummy flavors (lemon, strawberry, grape, and orange). June 8, 2009 release.
Notes: I don’t know if these are going to be distinct enough from other gummis already on the market, but hey, there’s no cherry in it, so I’m definitely down for a try.

Name: Tic Tac Melon Mango, Holiday Twist & Pina Colada (Limited Edition)
Brand: Ferrero
Description: Tic Tac Melon Mango uses an innovative combination of fruit flavors and vibrant colors. Starts shipping in June 2009. Tic Tac Holiday Twist
will spice up your holiday with the combination of our Freshmint & Cinnamon flavors. Starts shipping in September 2009. Tic Tac Pi?a Colada combines the flavors of coconut & pineapple in a single mint to create a unique tropical flavor sensation. Starts shipping in March 2010.
Notes: I know Tic Tac comes out with these limited editions, but I’m never able to find them in stores. (Not that I couldn’t make my own Holiday mix myself.)

Name: Impulse Chocolate Bars
Brand: Valor Chocolates
Description: Now you can enjoy all the flavor of Valor chocolate anytime, anywhere. Our new 1.59-ounce chocolate minibars give you that little bit of extra pleasure whenever and wherever you want. Adult pleasure any time, any where.
Notes:  I didn’t write that copy. Valor is a great Spanish brand of chocolate that I seem to have neglected on the blog for many years. These little bars may change that, as I often find the 100 gram bars a bit daunting (and expensive).

Name: Skipjacks
Brand: Wolfgang
Description: Skipjacks are delicious, light Oyster Crackers covered in Wolfgang’s natural, creamy milk chocolate. The crispy, salty cracker, and the sweet milk chocolate make this new product as irresistible as fresh popcorn at the movies.
Notes: I can’t tell from the product info if these are the saltine stile oyster crackers or the big crunchy lump style. Either way, I’m ready to give these a try.

Name: Gourmet Flavored Candy Corn
Brand: Zachary Confections, Inc. 
Description: We are pleased to introduce three more flavors of Gourmet Flavored Candy Corn! Candy Cane, Gingerbread, and Egg Nog will join our successful line of 1 lb. “candy dish” tubs.
Notes: Zachary already makes an interesting array including Raspberry, Caramel Apple, Cherry, Cinnamon, Tangerine and Raspberry Lemonade (see list here). Flavors like Egg Nog and Gingerbread actually sound more in tune with the mellow texture and flavor of fondant, so I’m willing to give them a try.

Related Candies

1. Candy Tease: February 2009
2. Candy Tease: Autumn 2008
3. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #5
4. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #4
5. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #3
6. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #2
7. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #1

M&Ms wants you to have a fun Easter basket of goodies. I’ve got two prizes of two big bags of M&Ms Bunny Mix.

To Enter: Send me an email at this address: candybloggiveaway @ gmail.com

Tell me two great things about M&Ms.

Rules: Anyone can enter but winners must have an address in the US (except Alaska & Hawaii) to claim the prize. Only one entry per email address. Entries accepted until Monday, March 30th, 2009 at 11 PM Pacific. Winners must respond within 48 hours of email notification or a new winner will be drawn. Winning packages will be shipped directly from M&Ms publicists.

M&Ms made these prize packages available to a lot of blogs, so click around on the blog roll to see if you can enter more giveaways!

UPDATE 4/2/2009: The entry period is over and I’m pleased to announce that Dan & Ruth won the prize packages. They should be on their way!

For those looking to win some other sweet goodness, try the National Confectioner’s Association giveaway on their Candy Dish Blog ... an immense prize that only folks who put on the All Candy Expo could assemble.

Hershey’s is promoting their tie-in with March Madness (some sort of college basketball championship) and I have two (2) prize packages to give away!

The prize is a ball & mini basketball hoop and net that hangs on a cubicle or trash can (enhancing America’s productivity in this economic downturn), and lots of Hershey’s product (Kit Kat, Reese’s, Pay Day).

To enter simply send me an email to candybloggiveaway @ gmail.com with Basketball and Chocolate somewhere in the subject line. (You’re creative, come up with the rest, flattery isn’t necessary but certainly welcome.) Winners must be 18 or older and must have a USA address. Winners will be drawn at random from eligible entries (one per person). Deadline for entry is Sunday, March 15 at 10 PM Pacific.

For everyone else, Hershey’s is running a huge promotional tie in with March Madness, look for info on marked packages of Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars, Hershey’s Milk Chocolate with Almonds Bars, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Almond Joy Candy Bars, Kit Kat Wafer Bars and PayDay.  The game runs through July 31, 2009 (winners get to go to the 2010 Final 4 or win other prizes). More on their special website.

Fine print: Emails not directed to candybloggiveaway @ gmail.com will be rejected. I will only share winning email addresses with Hershey’s PR folks (who will be doing the shipping) and will not use them for any other purpose. Winners must respond via email within 48 hours of notification, otherwise a new winner will be drawn. Do not send me your physical address unless you’re notified of winning.

UPDATE: I drew two winners (Jessica & Sheila) and the packages are being shipped out today. Congratulations!

I have a bit of a cold and don’t think it’d be fair to review anything else this week. So here’s your candy tease of new products, some just arriving on shelves.

Name: Reese’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Brand: Hershey’s
Description: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in a dark chocolate shell. 
Notes: Available starting June 2009 along with a “Reese’s Loves You Back” prize promotion. This isn’t the first time Hershey’s has released a dark chocolate RPBC, most recently it was a limited edition version of mini bat coins for The Dark Knight and before that back in 2003 (with some other appearances in between).

Name: Gemstones
Brand: Atkinson Candy Company
Description: Hard candy in pretty gem-like packaging.
Notes: For those who miss the Peerless line of hard candy, you’ll be happy to hear that Atkinson Candy Company of Texas bought much of their line (recipes) and have restarted production on many of the classic candies including their premium sugar free line. (All made in the USA, as well.) My favorites have always been the Honeycomb Peanuts and Anise Squares. (Available online now.)

Name: Toxic Waste(r) Shockingly Sour Hi-Voltage(tm) Bubble Gum
Brand: Candy Dynamics
Description: In a hollowed out rope gum fashion filled with ultra sour powder offering more than two combined feet of delicious bubble gum in each individual package and presented in three different yummy sour flavors: Amp’d Aple, Surgin’ Strawberry and Blackout Blue Razz.
Notes: I don’t think anything can every top the classic Quencher gum when it comes to mouth tingling & salivation, but I suppose I could give this a try.

Name: Gimme Calcium
Brand: Brightspot Brands
Description: We start with a crispy crunchy ball of rice and drench it with the best milk chocolate that’s been infused with TruCal(r) calcium. Then we seal in all this goodness with a thin candy shell with no artificial colors.
Notes: I’m always dubious of fortified candy, but this sounds pretty good. Each serving has 500 mg of calcium and sounds like a malted milk ball.

Name: Breath Savers(r) Strong Mint Menthol and Energy Mint Caffeine
Brand: Hershey’s
Description:  Breath Savers Strong Energy Mint Caffeine offers a “boast of energy” with a touch of caffeine. Available December 2008. Also available in Breath Savers Strong Mint Menthol.
Notes: I’m curious how much caffeine is in those Strong Energy, but I suspect it’s either very little or so much it leaves a horrible bitter aftertaste.

Name: Chocolate Flavored Mega Smarties
Brand: CeDe
Description: 2.25 oz. rolls of the super-big Smarties disks. Available now.
Notes: A couple of issues here. First, I’ve had the chocolate flavored Pez and thought they were dreadful, and I can’t imagine these would be any better. Second, Smarties in every other part of the world are made by Nestle and are actual chocolate lentils, so a powdery chocolate disk is only going to create more international confusion.

Related Candies

1. Candy Tease: Autumn 2008
2. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #5
3. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #4
4. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #3
5. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #2
6. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #1

At the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, I missed the opportunity to watch Joseph Schmidt make his famous chocolate bowls - though I did get to see the fresh works and talk with him briefly. Though some of the high end items like the bowl from Joseph Schmidt are undoubtedly crafted items, the current mass manufacture of the truffles doesn’t really keep with the artisan vibe.

Are they still artisan confections when they’re consolidated into one manufacturing plant in Illinois? Were they even still artisan when Hershey’s bought them in 2005?

A little history: In 2005 Hershey’s started a spinoff company and seemed to tap into a new trend in the United States: small batch, carefully crafted confections. They created an autonomous company called Artisan Confections Company and into it went Joseph Schmidt and Scharffen Berger and later in early 2006 Dagoba.

Milton S. Hershey started as what could be described as an artisan confectioner. He made hand-stirred caramels, eventually made his fortune with a company called the Lancaster Caramel Company. Of course this was all at the same time that the industrial revolution and the assembly line was transforming everything from stockings to cars and then chocolate with Hershey’s five cent milk chocolate bar.

But mass production doesn’t mean bad. Or at least it doesn’t have to mean it.

What this meant initially was greater distribution and monetary muscle for these tiny chocolate companies. (Scharffen Berger & Dagoba are chocolate factories, Joseph Schmidt is a chocolatier.) And it’s done quite a bit for the public. Access to these varieties of products has done munch to educate consumers about the nature of chocolate, how flexible it is, how specific beans grown in a particular valley can taste vastly different to mixed beans. Dagoba showed us that organic and ethical doesn’t have to taste like the heaps of faint praise given to children who make macaroni art.

But most chocolate lovers have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. After all, this is Hershey’s - a company that isn’t known for the quality of its products these days or the respectful way that it treats its customers.

The announcement yesterday sounded like this:

During the fourth quarter of 2008, the scope of the Global Supply Chain Transformation program increased modestly to include the closure of two subscale manufacturing facilities of Artisan Confections Company, a wholly owned subsidiary, and consolidation of the associated production into existing U.S. facilities, along with rationalization of other select items. These initiatives, which will be completed in 2009, increase the expected total cost and savings of the Global Supply Chain Transformation program by approximately $25 million and $5 million, respectively. Approximately $15 million of the increased costs are non-cash charges. (source)

The names Scharffen Berger and Joseph Schmidt appeared nowhere in the official press release. In fact, I read over this fourth quarter report, even twittered a smidge, without even realizing what that meant. Subscale? Rationalization? It wasn’t until later that evening that the SFGate posted the news and Cammy from Munchcast popped me a note.

There were assurances from Hershey in 2005 that the company would retain its staff and location (though it did expand, I don’t think anyone can be upset by that, as they did say that they wanted to grow the brand). The sad truth is that this is merely a formality. Scharffen Berger chocolate has, for the most part, been made in Illinois for a couple of years. The Berkeley factory is a bit of theatre. Sure, it’s a working factory, but it may as well be Chocolate World for the well-heeled.

But this leaves a hole, a new opportunity for the actual hand crafted chocolate makers out there. And Scharffen Berger should look sharp, there are far more than back in 2005 when it got its infusion of cash. Askinosie, Amano, DeVries, Taza, Theo, Tcho, Patric, Mast Brothers, Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory, Rogue Chocolatier and Jacque Torres ... that’s just bean to bar folks in the United States.

If you’d like to see Scharffen Berger & Joseph Schmidt’s roots, I’d recommend a trip soon.

Joseph Schmidt (previous review)
3489 16th St
San Francisco, CA 94114

Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker (factory tour)
914 Heinz Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94710
(510) 981-4050

UPDATE 1/29/2009: It appears that Scharffen Berger has already stopped the free tours, even though word is that the factory will continue production at least until April.

UPDATE 2/10/2009: Joseph Schmidt is closing its doors for good, there is no shift of production. They will continue and fill orders through the Easter holiday. Though 150 other Bay Area folks are out of a job (including the Scharffen Berger folks), Joseph Schmidt himself will continue to be employed by Hershey’s. I expect that he will continue his appearances at trade shows and events, and perhaps consult on recipes.

Related Candies

1. Hershey’s Website Inaccuracies
2. Askinosie Chocolate
3. Tcho: Beta Batch No. C Ghana 0.7 AH
4. Amano Single Origin Bars: Madagascar & Ocumare
5. Theo 3400 Phinney Bars
6. What Made Hershey’s Want to Change Chocolate?
7. Big Candy Buyouts - Hershey & Jelly Belly
8. 2006 Independent Food Awards